On the sixth floor of the massive pyramid known as the Sith Academy, Saryn sat in meditation.
He had returned here right after leaving the Overseer's office and was now waiting for Assistant Overseer Loun to contact him.
The rest of the morning passed just like that. Saryn was able to rest enough and eliminate his earlier fatigue.
The datapad resting on the durasteel table pulsed with a red light. A message.
Saryn opened his eyes and stood up from the ground where he had been meditating, then grabbed the flashing datapad, displaying the holographic text he had just received.
'Hello Acolyte.
I have been assigned as your private tutor by Overseer Rance and am waiting for you in Office 01-08.'
The message was short and didn't reveal any attitude the sender might have toward Saryn.
Saryn grabbed his shirt from the metallic chair beside him and put it back on, then left his individual room.
The corridors of the Academy were quiet, save for the low hum of droids and the echo of his footsteps. The air carried that faint metallic smell and something darker, a whisper of the dark side seemed to seep from the Academy's cold, metallic walls.
From what Saryn had heard from his father back on Dromund Kaas, this was mainly because most Overseers preferred to hold their classes in the afternoon.
As for the Acolytes who had finished their classes but were still awaiting their trials to start, they were probably either in the Archives or the Training Grounds.
'I guess some of them could also be busy exploring the ancient tombs.' Saryn shook off those thoughts as he arrived on the first floor.
Looking around the main hall, his eyes couldn't help but stop once again on the Sith obelisk in the center of the room.
The Sith obelisk pulsed in rhythm with the ambient dark side, resonating with what Saryn assumed to be the dark side nexus with which the Ajunta Pall had communed thousands of years ago.
'Alright, I should get going. I can't make the Assistant Overseer wait, can I?'
Saryn started moving again with his usual smirk plastered across his face.
This time, Saryn entered the right hallway to reach Office 01-08, where Loun was waiting for him.
As usual, Saryn didn't bother knocking. The door slid open with a hiss, revealing a crimson-skinned woman behind the desk.
Her red eyes met his with irritation.
"Rance did say I would enjoy your company," Saryn smirked, "but this is even better than I expected."
Her skin was bright red, nearly matching his own. Her predatory eyes were an even deeper shade of crimson, contrasting beautifully with her black hair.
"Show some respect, Acolyte!" Assistant Overseer Loun's frown deepened.
"I guess Rance didn't inform you about me. This study session will be even more amusing than I expected."
Hearing how Loun had answered, Saryn couldn't help but look teasingly at the pureblood Sith woman in front of him.
"I guess I will need to teach you about hierarchy for the Overseer, as it appears he didn't do it yet."
"The Academy is not a place where Acolytes act as they please, you'd do well to remember that." When Loun saw how Saryn looked at her like she was his prey, she didn't even wait before sending a Force lightning flying at him.
"Getting feisty, aren't you? More fun for me, I guess." With a single wave of Saryn's hand, the Force lighting coming towards him was dispelled, under the shocked eyes of the Assistant Overseer.
"You are right on one thing, my dear." Saryn continued, "Talent alone is not enough. The only truth is power, and I have enough of that, so I can act as I please." He now stood in front of Loun's desk and looked at the woman who had sat down in her seat with an intense gaze.
The proud woman now looked directly in his eyes, and the hostility had mainly disappeared from her eyes, replaced by a mix of desires, defiance, and anger.
"Tsk." That was the only sound the gorgeous pureblood sith made, but she showed no sign of protest in the slightest. It was just due to her pride having taken a hit.
Loun then stood up and went across the desk to stand next to Saryn.
"I trust we will have a most pleasant time together, dear Loun. Don't you think so as well?" With a smile, Saryn looked at the beautiful woman before him, her tight clothing revealing her gorgeous curves.
Deep and savage moans and screams of pleasure echoed for the next three hours throughout the office as the two of them spent some time getting to know each other in detail.
Sith Purebloods were like that.
They were a predatory species.
Thus, social hierarchy was determined in all its forms by power.
The powerful dominated the lesser. The laws and rules of the Empire had nothing to do with that, as it was just how they evolved as a species.
A few hours passed, and the heavy atmosphere in the room went back to normal.
"That was most educational, dear Loun. I hope the next few lessons will be just as good." Saryn looked at the woman in front of him with a satisfied smirk.
"By the way, just send me the courses you prepared on my datapad."
"I'll trust we'll find other things to busy ourselves with than boring classes when we are together."
"I agree that it was a nice change of pace." Loun also couldn't help but have a satisfied smile on her face.
She had a few suitors on Korriban, but most were simply too weak for her taste, and she never even bothered to entertain them.
Having a pureblood like Saryn around to relax would indeed do her some good.
"I'll send the information later today. For now, leave."
"I want to enjoy some alone time." She then informed him before closing her eyes to savor the bliss she felt, fueling her passion, which, in turn, made her more powerful than she had been before.
"Perfect. I'll see you another day."
"Until then, Loun, don't miss me too much." Saryn chuckled as he left.
The Assistant Overseer didn't even bother to answer him and kept enjoying the feeling of her powers growing.
When Saryn arrived in the main hall, it was still mostly empty.
He walked to stand before the great Sith obelisk at the room's center and closed his eyes, letting the hum of its dark energy surround him.
A shiver ran down his spine as the dark side's currents coursed through him, twisting his senses and sharpening his focus.
A rush of emotion surged in his mind as he attuned himself to the dark side's currents emanating from the obelisk that flowed through his body.
His focus and senses were instantly sharpened. He began to feel multiple overwhelming emotions. Pride, rage, ambition, hunger, and more. All intertwining in an intoxicating current.
Among these, Pride was the emotion to which Saryn was most attuned.
It had always been that way. He had been born stronger and sharper than his peers, and from that simple truth, his pride had grown.
Not as narcissism, but as conviction.
And the more he embraced it, the more powerful he became on the dark side.
Saryn thus instinctively tried to filter the intense emotions he felt from meditating before the obelisk, focusing solely on Pride.
Saryn's way of the Sith was simple. He was an absolute believer in the dark side of the Force.
In his youth, he had shaped his own interpretation of the Sith Code as he learned of it.
The first thing he understood back then was Passion. His first realization, like countless Sith before him, was that passion stemmed from emotions.
This discovery, in turn, led him to develop his own training philosophy in the Force.
His goal was to gain absolute mastery and control of his passion.
To do that, he had to achieve absolute mastery over his emotions. It was the only way he had found so far.
The goal was obviously not to remain calm at all times.
On the contrary, Saryn wanted to be able to feel the highest level of hatred for even the most random individual in the galaxy simply because he wished it.
He wanted the ability to control his emotions to the point he could reach his strongest state at any given moment, no matter who he faced.
It was definitely not the conventional path of the lesser Sith, as most let themselves be controlled by their emotions.
But, according to what Saryn had read in the past, the truly powerful Dark Lords were those who had absolute mastery over their passion.
Being a Sith revolved around manipulation. You even had to be able to manipulate yourself.
To Saryn, that was the true essence of the dark side. The Way of the Sith.
Saryn kept meditating here for half an hour until the Acolytes of the Academy started pouring out of their sessions with the Overseers.
He sensed a presence behind him, faint yet insistent.
He decided not to care and pursued his meditation to its end.
"An interesting child has once again arrived at the Academy." The moment he woke up from his meditation, an old, decrepit voice sounded out from behind him.
He turned around to find an old human woman looking at him intensely.
"I am Overseer Ragate, a keeper of the old ways."
"The Force informed me of your presence in these walls."
"I came to find you after I felt your potential. I can help you realize it, if you like." Overseer Ragate continued.
The frail-looking old woman had ashen skin and bright red eyes. Her face was covered in wrinkles, and her hair had already become entirely grey.
"And how will you help me do that?" Saryn questioned while holding the old woman's intense gaze.
"You needn't be wary of me, child."
"I am already half a step into the grave and have long given up on the idea of climbing the ladder." Seeing Saryn's suspicious gaze, she smiled.
"How do you plan to help me then?" Saryn, of course, didn't let his guard down.
The person before him had obviously been an Overseer for decades, and he knew better than to trust someone who had played in the center of academy politics for so long.
"I already know you have power and strength in the Force, child."
"The test I am about to have you take has been around for thousands of years. It predates the time the first Dark Lord set his foot on Korriban."
"If you complete it, it will serve you well during the trials your future master will have you take."
"Follow me, if you will." The old woman then turned and walked to the left hallway.
'Even before Ajunta Pall landed on Korriban?'
'It is probably related to Sith Sorcery then.'
'Let's see what this is about.' Saryn quietly followed the frail old woman.
The two of them didn't walk for long and soon reached a secluded corner of the left hallway.
When Saryn arrived in front of the chamber Overseer Ragate had led him to, he couldn't help but focus.
The dark side emanating from the ritual chambers was not as dense as that in the rest of the Academy, but felt incredibly ancient.
"I welcome you to my chamber."
"I administer the rite of blood and bones. A ritual performed beyond this doorway."
"It is a rite acolytes have participated in for ten thousand years." The old woman introduced.
"Today, it will be you who completes this ritual. To prove yourself to the Force, and to Korriban."